Drawing instrument for lettering and dimensioning



J1me 1950 e. s. DOLGORUKOV 2,512,852

DRAWING INSTRUMENT FOR LETTERING AND DIMENSIONING Filed Oct. 27, 1944 i W N NN Q hm -w MN i TE Patented June 27,1950

UNITED STATES .ATENT OFFICE DRAWING INSTRUMENT FOR LETTERING AND DIMENSIONING 7 Claims.

This invention relates to drawing instruments and more particularly to an improved lettering guide. The present application is a continuationin-part of my co-pending application, Serial No. 482,432, filed on April 9, 1943, Patent No. 2,379,791, granted July 3, 1945.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved lettering guide with the aid of which neat and accurate lettering may be done without the necessity of first drawing any guide lines therefor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lettering guide which can be successfully used for both pencil and ink work.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lettering guide with the aid of which the necessity of setting and using a compass for drawing circles around letters and numerals, such as those commonly used in indicating revisions or piece numbers on drawings, is eliminated, and such circles may be drawn rapidly and centered proper ly with respect to the letter or numeral without the necessity of finding the centers therefor.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved lettering guide which enables its user to box certain dimensions or Words without the use of a triangle and without slowing down lettering and dimensioning by the necessity of laying aside the lettering tool and reaching for an instrument such as a triangle which is usually laid aside when lettering.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved lettering guide enabling the user to letter and dimension in a four-size font of letters, as well as in four single-size fonts of letters.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved lettering guide providing for selectively positioning note lines at one of four distances bearing a predetermined relationship to the height of the note line.

It is an added object of the present invention to provide an improved lettering guide of the foregoing character which is of a simple one piece construction, is dependable and convenient in use, and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a view showing my improved lettering guide in a position at a straight edge and for use with pencil.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows on the section plane passing through the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, said view showing the guide in a position for pencil lettering.

Fig. 3 is a view similar in part to Fig. 2, but showing the guide turned on the paper end-overend into a position for ink lettering.

Fig. 4 is a view showing samples of various characters of the four-size font produceable with the guide, as well as samples of characters of various single-size fonts; also circles and rectangles produceable with the same guide in their proper space relationship with respect to th characters inscribed therein.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it i to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein i for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the prior art.

The lettering guide disclosed herein is of a combination slot construction and is provided with a set of longitudinally adjacent or merging slot portions, the respective widths of which and their mutual axial arrangement are so selected that by shifting the guide along a straight edge of a T-square, a triangle, or the like, the user may letter through these slot portions a line of lettering characters which, although belonging to the same font orcomplete assortment of lettering characters, have different height and even axial arrangement, as is the case, for instance, with line letters, capitals therefor, fractions, and tolerances written in two lines. It is an important advantage of my improved guide that neither the guide nor the T-square need be moved vertically until it is necessary to write another line, and in lettering a line the guide is simply moved to the right orto the left along the T-square to bring the desired slotportion to the place where the lettering character of a different height than the last lettered characters has to be lettered.

Referring tothe drawing, the lettering guide illustrated therein comprises a body I0 made preferably in the form of a flat rectangular strip of substantially transparent material, such as cellulose nitrate or cellulose'acetate, commercially known as Celluloid, said body being provided with a straight guiding edge II, which edge is moved in operation of the guide along the straight edge l3 of a T-square, a triangle or the like. Parallel to said straight edge H, there is provided a combination slot generally indicated by the numeral I2, said slot being composed of a plurality, in the present instance four, of longitudinally adjacent slots or slot portions l4, l5, l6, and I1, having their longitudinal edges parallel to said straight edge H, thus making the entire slot l2 also parallel to said edge H, as mentioned.

The slot H3 is the narrowest slot, its width be-- ing in the nature of the basic width from which the width of the remaining slots is derived. In the present embodiment of the invention I prefer to make the width of the slot l5 equal to approximately 1.5 times, slot l a2 times, and slot 17- 2.5 times of the width of slot I4, adding approximately .015"-.02 to the widths of the. slots M and I5, and approximately .O20"-.030" to the widths of the slots l1 and 1'6 to allow "for the thickness of the pencil point.

'Slots M and l 5 may have their lower edges Mb and E519 extending along the same straight line, and slots and it may have their upper edges 52; and 16a extending along the same straight line. The slot I! may have its upper and lower edges l la and I It disposed at an equaltransverse distance from the corresponding edges of slot M. Thus the slots 14, t5 and I! have their respective longitudinal axes arranged along the same straight line, and therefore are eo-axial, while the slot 15 is, in effect, cfiset co-axially with respect to the other slots.

By virtue of the above construction the guide enables lettering the'rethrough lettering characters of a four-size font, i. e.,.a font or assortment the various characters of which may have as many as four different heights. Thus, if the slot M is adapted for lettering therethrough characters of .10 high, slot l5 may be used for produc'i'ng capitals of .15 high for line letters produced through slot '14. The slot '16 may be used for bracketing the lettering matter produced through the slot l4, ier-double line tolerances, for bracketing dimensions produced through the slot l4, (this being possible since the slots I 4 and and It are -=co-'axia1) as well as for lettering other characters extending an equal distance below andabove the letters 'produceable through the slot 1E. The slot 11 may be used for lettering therethrough fractions for numerals lettered through the slots I4 'or 6.

In addition to the above, the-above described construction provides for lettering through 2. sm gle guide in four single-size fonts, 1. e., in four sizes or lettering characters having no interrelat-ion between their respective heights.

Making the combination slot in't'he form of mutually mergingjslotportions, insteadof closely adjacent but non 'communicatlng slots, has an important advantage, in manufacture by making it possible to cut all four slot portions in a single operation without withdrawingthe cutting tool and then bringing it up to work again. It should be understood, however, that the longitudinal order of the slot portions may .vary from what is employed in the present embodiment, consistent with the requirement that as little shifting or longitudinal moving of the guide as possible should be required for the general run of lettermg.

- It is often required in drafting work to "draw a circle around a numeral or a letter, such as in drawing piece numbers on an assembly drawing, or in applying revision letters thereto. Such circles are usually drawn with the aid of a compass, either before or after the character is written. Difiiculties are encountered in either case. In drawing the circle after the character is lettered, i. e., circumscribing the circle around the character, it is very difiicult to get the position of the center correctly and the circle usually appears placed eccentrically, which is readily apparent and very unsightly on a drawing. In lettering the character in ink into a circle, i. e., inscribing it into a circle, the ink runs under the cloth through the hole made by the needle point of the compass, producing a spot which has to be removed. Moreover, the necessity of putting aside the lettering instruments and getting hold of a compass and adjusting it to the required radius breaks into the continuity of lettering operations and is a source of wasted time and an annoyance to the draftsrnan.

:My improved lettering guide eliminates the above disadvantages and enables the draftsman to draw circles around numerals or letters in an accurate and speedy manner, properly centered and without laying aside lettering instruments or breaking the continuity of lettering operations. Inaccordance with the invention, the body :9 is provided adjacently to said combination slot l2 with a number of round openings. Said openings are arranged to have their geometric centers on the straight line 20 forming a continuation of the axes-of the slots used for lettering the characters which are to be circumscribed with the respective circles. In the present embodiment of the invention there are provided two circles 58 and I9, both of said circles having their centers on the straight line 20 constituting an axis of the slots 14, 46 and 41. By virtue of such a construction, after a desired character or characters are lettered through one or several of said slots, the guide is moved along the straight edge 13 of the T-square, the desired hole centered around the character (which is incomparably easier to do than to guess the position of the center for an undrawn circle), and a circle is drawn with F the same lettering instriunent that Was used for lettering the character, by moving its point along the edges of the selected round hole. It is very important to appreciate that with my improved guide it is not necessary to move the T-square for drawing such circles, and that drawing of the same is done with the same position of the T- square as for lettering the respective character. In the present embodiment of the invention in order to satisfy specific requirements of one system of lettering used in a number of drafting rooms in this country the circles 18 and 49 have their diameters selected to draw circles approximately three-eighths and one-half inch in diameter, respectively. However holes for drawing ci-rcles of other diameters to satisfy other requirements or regulations may be provided. For the sizes of circles commonly used on average assembly and other drawings the actual diameter of the hole should be approximately .015.020" largerthan the diameter of the desired circle to provide clearance for the pencil, similarly to the clearance provided in the slots. It should be appreciated that in lettering notes through the slots or otherwise, it is customary to hold the pencil inclined as in writing, while in drawing circles through the holes the pencil is customarily held nearly vertical. With the thickness of the lettering guide such as .060 which is customary for-drafting instruments and which is suf ficient to prevent annoying sliding of theguide under the T-square, lettering through anarro'w unchamfered' slot with a pencil held in a :na'turally inclined position would not only :beannoy-.- ing and inconvenient but would produce a much narrower or lower line of letters, and the center line of such a line would be raised considerably. Onthe other hand, since in drawing circlesthe pencil is held nearly vertical, lack of. chamfe-r would not affect materially the diameter of the circle drawn therethrough or the position of its center.- Thus, a lack of chamfer on the edges of the body of a lettering guide at theslot, at least along the lower edges thereof, vand particularly in a lettering guide of a customary thickness, not only makes slot-lettering difficult and annoying, but also requires arranging the holes in such a manner as to have their centers disposed below the continuation of the center line of the slot portion which is served by the particular hole. I

In my improved lettering guide means are provided which make the same guide successfully useable both for pencil and for ink work. In the present embodiment of the invention said means are exemplified by an ink clearing groove 2| providedon the upper surface [a of the guide, and running through the entire length thereof. I prefer to make such groove approximately .035" deep, and its width such as to extend beyond the transverse extent of the slot 12 and round holes l8 and I9, thus ensuring clearing the ink of any characters lettered therethrough. The upper edge Zia of the groove?! is at such a distance from the slot l2 as to enable one to clear the wet ink of the upper line and letter the next lower line at least through the slots l4 and 15 without waiting for the upper line written through the same slots to dry. Of course, increasing the width of the body it] permits increasing the width of the groove 2| to extend its transverse extent to distances ensuring clearing, when lettering the next lower line, a wet upper line lettered through any of the slots and also to clear the circles drawn through the holes 13 and I9. However, I found that the width of the groove 2! sufiicient to clear the upper line lettered through the slots M and i5 produces a guide of well-balanced proportions, and is sufficient for the average run of drafting lettering.

For lettering in pencil, the guide is placed on the paper with the ink clearing groove 2! away from the paper, see Figs. 1 and 2, and lettering is done in the same manner as with a guide not having such an ink clearing groove. However, the presence of said groove has advantages even in pencil lettering, since the thinning out of the body I0 along the slot l2 makes pencil lettering easier and more pleasant, while the thickness of the body along its longitudinal edges prevents it from slipping under the T-square, which slipping would be very annoying if the entire guide were made of the same thickness as it is along the slot [2.

For lettering in ink, the guide is turned endover-end to place the ink clearing groove 2! against the paper, as shown in Fig. 3, whereupon the lettering is done with the same use of the slot I2 and holes I8 and I9 as in pencil lettering, the only difference being that the longitudinal order of the slot portions will now be reversed, the slot portion ll being on the right instead of on the left as in pencil lettering.

Means are provided enabling the user to arrange lettering characters vertically and to provide neat vertical margins in notes, said means being exemplified by a number of lines 22 perpendicular to the straight edge]! and provided on the bottom surface lllb of the body [0. By such an arrangement said lines are not interrupted by the groove 21 and extend all the way to the edges of the slot I2. I prefer to space said lines approximately apart.

Means are also provided enabling the user to space note lines uniformly at a number of selective predetermined distances from each other. Such means are exemplified by a number, in the present embodiment two,.of horizontal lines 23 and 24 which are parallel to the straight edge II, and are provided on the surface liib of the b'ody 0. The lower line 24 is provided at a distance from the edge I ia equal to 1 times the width of the slot 14 plus of the allowance for pencil, while the line 23 is spaced from the line 24 at a distance equal approximately to one'half the width of the slot I4. By virtue of such a construction the note lines lettered through the slot l4 may be selectively spaced at distances of A 1, 1 and 2 times that of the width of slot M. The edges of the guide at the slot l2 as well 'as holes l8 and I9 may be slightly chamfered as shown at Thus there is provided an improved lettering guide with the aid of which the objects of the present invention and a number of additional advantages are attained.

1. In a lettering guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with at least three lettering slots of different Widths parallel to said edge, two of said slots having their lower edges forming a (continuation of each other, and two slots having their upper edges forming a continuation of each other.

2. In a lettering guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with at least three lettering slots parallel to said straight edge, the first of said slots having an arbitrarily selected width, the second of said slots having its lower edge forming a continuation of said first slot and the width equal to approximately once and a half that of the first slot, said third slot having its upper edge forming a continuation of said second slot and the width equal to approximately twice that of said first slot.

3. In a lettering guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with four longitudinally adjacent slots of different width and parallel to said straight edge, said slots providing for lettering therethrough lettering characters of approximately .10", .15, .20, and .25", respectively, the .10", .20", and .25" slots having their axes along the same straight line.

4. In a lettering guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with four longitudinally adjacent slots of difierent width and parallel to said straight edge, said slots providing for lettering therethrough lettering characters of approximately .10", .15", .20", and .25, respectively, the .10", .20", and .25" slots having their axes along the same straight line, the .10" and the .15" slots having their lower edges along the same straight line.

5. In a lettering guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with four longitudinally adjacent slots of different width and parallel to said straight edge, said slots providing for lettering therethrough lettering characters of approximately .10", .15", .20", and .25", respectively, the .10", .20", and .25" slots having their axes along the same straight line,

answers 7 the: .10" and the .15 slots having their lower edges along the same straight line, and the .15 and .20" slotshaving their upper edges along the same straight: line. r

6 In. alettering. guide, a body, a straight edge on said body, said body being provided with four longitudinally adjacent slots of different width and parallel to: said straight edge, said slots providing for lettering therethrough lettering characters of approximately .10, .15, .20", and .25 respectively; the .10", .20", and .25 slots having their axes along the same straight line, tworound openings for drawing circles of approximately one half an inch in diameter and three eighths of an inch in diameter. being provided on said body,,witli the centers of said openings being disposed on said axis line.

7:. A reversible ink and pencil lettering guide comprising. a body having a straight edge, said body being provided with a combination sl'ot extending along said straightedge and having its. longitudinal edges parallei thereto, said combination slot being composed of a plurality of longitudinally adjacent slot portions merging into one anotherat their adjacent ends, at; least one of said slot portions having length sumcient to letter therethrough a plurality of lettering characters without shifting the guide, said slot portions having difierent but mutuallycorrelated widths and a correlated axial arrangement corresponding to those of lettering characters. of at least one predetermined font thereof said body being further" provided on one of its: surfaces over said slot with a straight ink clearing groove, said groove being disposed substantially parallel to said straight edge and running to the very edge of said body at least at" one of its ends, whereby said guide is adapted to bear against the paper with its one entire surface for pencil lettering, and to have all of its edges at said combination slot: raised from the paper when the. guide isturned over for ink lettering; with none of the characters lettered through. the slot being reversed by such turning over of the guide; two lines being provided parallel to the straight edge on the surface of the body opposite to the surface onwhich the ink clearing groove is provided, said lines adapted to be used for setting the guide with its slot at one of a number of predetermined distances from a line of a lettered note, the ink clearing groove having width to extend transversely of the guide beyond both of said lines to ensure that a lower line of characters can be lettered in ink while the upper line of the characters is still wet, without smearing said upper line, at least when using the narrowest slot and the narrowest spacing between the note lines.

GREGORY S. DOLGORUKOV.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file. of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,574,953 Wood Mar. 2, 1926 1,708,551 Nell Apr. 9, 1929 2,016,985 Carlson Oct. 8, 1935 2,379,791 Dolgorukov July 3, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 294,822 Great Britain Aug. 2, 1928 

